Rachel Gutish

• Tuesday Toolbox: Tayla JonesOctober 9, 2018Although Australian rider Tayla Jones made her first GNCC appearance back in 2014 with a 4th place at Powerline Park and a 1st at Ironman, it was just last year when she really captured everyone’s attention. In her first full year racing in the United States, she made history by winning titles in the three major east coast series (GNCC, National Enduro and Sprint Enduro). Now for the second year in a row she has again won all three titles after wrapping up the GNCC WXC class championship at the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mason-Dixon two weeks ago.
• Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mason-Dixon GNCC Women’s Race ReportOctober 8, 2018The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Mason-Dixon GNCC, round eleven of the 2018 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, an AMA National Championship, took place on September 29th and 30th. Though technically a new addition to the series, the Mason-Dixon takes place on Mathews Farm, an old stomping ground of the series. The last GNCC on the property took place in 2003, which means the woods had time to recover for this year’s event.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Rick ValentineOctober 2, 2018Rick Valentine is currently the class leader (and new champion) in the 4x4 lites class. The 48 year-old, from Indianola, Iowa got started racing in a fairly roundabout way, but took to it like a fish to water. He and his son have been racing GNCCs off and on since 2012, and it sounds like there is still plenty of GNCC racing in both of their futures!
• Tuesday Toolbox: Austin SentellSeptember 25, 2018Every so often, when I run low on ideas for Tuesday Toolbox interviews, I put out what is basically an open casting call on Facebook. Riders contact me and explain why they believe they should be featured in a Toolbox, and if they are compelling enough, we set up an interview. Austin Sentell, a sixteen-year old from Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina is racing 200 C Schoolboy this year. He pointed out that it’s been awhile since we featured any C riders in a toolbox, and that he would be an especially good one to talk to since it is his first full year racing the GNCC series.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Cody BarnesSeptember 18, 2018This is only Cody Barnes’ first season racing in the FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class, but his win came early in the season and then a handful of podiums attracted the attention of Beta USA’s factory team. Cody has been picked up by Beta for the remainder of this season and next season as well. I ran into him at a local race this weekend and was curious how this deal came about, as well as how his summer break has gone and his thoughts on the new bike and his season so far.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Rob Johnson (Black Sky GNCC)September 11, 2018In just a few short days the GNCC series will head to Harpursville, New York for the Black Sky GNCC, a brand-new venue for the series! The landowner, Robin (Rob) Johnson took the time to give us some details about the property and its history in his family, as well as why he became interested in hosting a GNCC in the first place. He is a longtime racer himself and is very excited about this upcoming weekend.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Ronnie Hames (HBD MotoGrafx)September 4, 2018HBD MotoGrafx is a sponsor of the GNCC series and has a booth set up down on vendor row. Quite a few GNCC riders run HBD on their bikes, so I thought it would be interesting to talk to Ronnie Hames, the man behind all of that shiny laminate. Ten years ago he combined his passion for motorcycles with a pre-existing knowledge of printing technology to start making graphics for his family and friends. Now it has grown into a major player in the graphics industry.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Adam McGillAugust 28, 2018Adam McGill is a longtime GNCC Pro ATV rider. Two weeks ago, however, he participated in a different sport entirely – Best in the Desert’s Vegas to Reno race, presented by General Tire. In addition to taking place in conditions and on terrain far different from your average GNCC, it is the longest race in the country. If you ride solo in the Ironman class, you will cover over 500 miles. Riders put nearly as much time on their machine during this single race as a pro rider would put on his race machine over the course of an entire season. I caught up with McGill last week to talk about his experience racing in the Nevada desert.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Andrew Matusek & Shelby RolenAugust 14, 2018There aren’t very many riders that can race both GNCC and motocross successfully – but these two can. Shelby Rolen and Andrew Matusek are two full-time GNCC racers who also raced at Loretta Lyn’s amateur nationals this year. Shelby races Women’s Pro Motocross (WMX) and the Women’s Pro class in the GNCC series (WXC), while Andrew raced the 30+ class at Loretta’s and Vet A at the GNCCs.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Steven Squire (SSR Rider Development)August 7, 2018Steven Squire, a former pro rider both in motocross and GNCC, has recently expanded his SSR Rider Development program by opening a training facility for both full-time and part-time residents, as well as Indiana locals. Unlike most other facilities out there though, Steven coaches a number of GNCC riders, and focuses just as much on training the woods riders as he does on the moto kids (though several of his riders did recently have stellar finishes at Loretta’s), making his facility an interesting development for off-road riding as a whole and GNCC in particular.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Tom EbersoleJuly 24, 2018Despite being 71 years old, you can still find Pennsylvania’s Thomas Ebersole out on the GNCC course, where he competes in the newly added Platinum (70+) class. Though the former ISDE club rider is currently second place in points, he has the most wins of anyone in the class, with five first-place finishes out of the six races he has attended. He hopes to win the championship this season, and if he continues to post finishes like that, he has a very good shot at it.
• Tuesday Toolbox: Fuel MinistriesJuly 17, 2018Last week was Fuel Ministry’s annual motorcycle summer camp, while this current week is the ATV camp. The camp is religious one, with chapel service and bible study, but also includes 8 – 9 hours of riding over the week, along with plenty of other traditional summer camp activities.